DA-3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose
height [was]
threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits: he set
it up in the
plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
DA-3:2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the
princes, the
governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the
counsellors, the
sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the
dedication of
the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
DA-3:3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the
judges, the
treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of
the
provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the
image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the
image that
Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
DA-3:4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O
people, nations,
and languages,
DA-3:5 [That] at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet,
flute, harp,
sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall
down and worship
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
DA-3:6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the
same hour be cast
into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
DA-3:7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the
sound of the
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music,
all the
people, the nations, and the languages, fell down [and]
worshipped the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
DA-3:8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and
accused the
Jews.
DA-3:9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king,
live for ever.
DA-3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that
shall hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and
dulcimer, and all
kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
DA-3:11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, [that] he
should be cast
into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
DA-3:12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the
affairs of the
province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men,
O king, have
not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the
golden image which
thou hast set up.
DA-3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to
bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men
before the king.
DA-3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, [Is it] true,
O Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the
golden image
which I have set up?
DA-3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound
of the cornet,
flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of
music, ye fall
down and worship the image which I have made; [well]: but if ye
worship not,
ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery
furnace; and
who [is] that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
DA-3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to
the king, O
Nebuchadnezzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee in this
matter.
DA-3:17 If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver
us from the
burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine
hand, O king.
DA-3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will
not serve thy
gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
DA-3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of
his visage was
changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he
spake, and
commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more
than it was
wont to be heated.
DA-3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his
army to bind
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast [them] into the
burning fiery
furnace.
DA-3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen,
and their
hats, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst
of the burning
fiery furnace.
DA-3:22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent,
and the furnace
exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up
Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego.
DA-3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
fell down bound
into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
DA-3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up
in haste,
[and] spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast
three men bound
into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king,
True, O
king.
DA-3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking
in the midst
of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth
is like the Son
of God.
DA-3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the
burning fiery
furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
ye servants
of the most high God, come forth, and come [hither]. Then
Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
DA-3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the
king's counsellors,
being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the
fire had no
power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their
coats changed,
nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
DA-3:28 [Then] Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the
God of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and
delivered his
servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word,
and yielded
their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god,
except their own
God.
DA-3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation,
and language,
which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and
Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made
a dunghill:
because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
DA-3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
in the
province of Babylon.
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